The Garden at the Lighthouse Restaurant is one of these historic landmarks of the Port Clinton community.

Following the famous Battle of Lake Erie, which took place just off of our shores in the early 1800's, maritime trade and commerce flourished in northern Ohio.

Guiding the many sailing ships and fishing boats plying the waters of Lake Erie's western basin was the Port Clinton Lighthouse.

On October 17, 1832, the United States Lighthouse Service purchased Port Clinton Lot 1, Square 3 from Ezekiel and Charlotte Haines of Cincinnati. The property was located to the east of the mouth of the Portage River, on the corner of what was called both Perry Street and Catawba Island Road and East Market Space, an open area where local vendors sold fresh fruit, vegetables, and other foodstuffs (later to become the present Adams Street.)

Four granite monuments marked "U.S.L.H.E." were buried in the corners of the property which, it is believed, were later used to plat the entire city of Port Clinton. Even today the property is known as Lighthouse Lot. Two of these are seen in our landscaping.

On December 28, 1832, Levi Johnson, a Cleveland-based contractor and renowned lighthouse builder, was commissioned to construct the Port Clinton Lighthouse.

His instructions were clear: a round, rough, split-stone tower, 22 feet in diameter at the base, taperiing to 10 1/2 feet at the lantern deck, 40 feet above the ground. The column was 3 1/2 feet thick at the base, 2 feet at the top. Set onto a solid stone foundation and double whitewashed, the tower contained three windows and a heavy wooden door.

At the top of the column was a 12 foot diameter, stone lantern deck platform, four-inches thick, topped with an eight-sided copper-covered iron dome. A double iron railing surrounded the lantern light.

Of the "bird cage" design, six of the dome's eight sides contained sever al rows of 12" x 11" double-thick glass panels. Six oil lamps, each with a 14 inch, highly polished silver reflecto, made the Port Clinton light visible approimately 10 miles out into Lake Erie.

Access to the lamps was by a circular wooden staircase within the center of the tower, which terminated to a six-foot ladder and a trap door through the lantern deck.

A 15 inch-high copper ventilator and a three-foot-high lightning rod on the top of the dome, and a 500 gallon double tin oil storage tank at the tower's base completed the functional design.

Adjacent to the tower was the lighthouse keeper's home.

Also of rough split stone, the 35' x 20' single-story dwelling consisted of two main rooms and an attached 14' x 12' enclosed "porch". A center chimney with an iron mantle fireplace provide heat to the two rooms, while three large windows in each provided light. A 6-foot-deep cellar was constructed beneath double wooden floors. All of the stone walls were 20 inches thick.

The enclosed porch contained the kitchen and dining area of the keeper's house. A chimney with sizeable oven and adjacent sink were located in the room as were two windows and two doors. Double wooden flooring and plastered walls and ceilings fulfilled the contractor's instructions that "all the inside work is to be finished in a plain and decent style, with good reasonable stuff".

A shingled roof and whitewashed walls completed the house.

In the years which followed, it is uncertain whether the Port Clinton Lighthouse continued out of tradition or out of true navigational need.

In March, 1835, two spar buoys were placed out in Lake Erie to assist ships into the Portage River. Buoys were again put into place in 1851.

But, according to the official annual reports of the U. S. Lighthouse Service, as early as 1843, recommendations were made to discontinue the light because of the lack of navigation in the area. In 1845, the report indicated that boat traffic into Port Clinton consisted mainly of fishing vessels.

Despite these reports, the shining light of Port Clinton continued.

In 1846, six new oil lamps were installed, and in 1855, a new lens was put into place. This sixth-order lens, smallest in the Lighthouse Service, was of the modern multi-prism, fresnel design, requiring only one oil lamp for illumination. The center of this new lens was reported to be 45 feet from the base of the tower; 48 feet above the level of Lake Erie.

Throughout this period, the name of Mr. Austin Smith is frequently listed as the lighthouse keeper.

Although some refitting of either the light or the residence took place in 1864, the Port Clinton Lighthouse was officially discontinues in 1870, and a custodian was hired to live in the keeper's residence for $1.00 per year.

While records of 1890 note the keeper's house to be dilapidated and not worth of repair, an 1893 report states that the original lighthouse tower was till standing and in good condition. That same year, the United States Congress authorized $1,500 to renovate the Port Clinton light.

Whether the funds were ever spent on the light in 1893 may never be known. But on July 15, 1896, a new lighthouse was in place, now on the end of the west breakwater of the Portage River entrance.

This new light, housed on top of a 12' x 12' wood-frame structure, consisted of a 180-degree, curved, clear glass lens, with horizontal ridges. The center of the light was approximately 26-feet above the Lake Erie waters. A single kerosene lantern with a ruby chimney provided a steady red light visible for six miles.

A new lighthouse keeper's residence was built five yeaars later, in 1901. Slightly larger than the original dwelling, the 20' x 44' house was of frame construction with a shingle roof. Cement sidewalks bordered the north and east sides of the house as did a row of small maple trees. Several fruit trees were planted on the rear of the property.

To service the lighthouse from the east side of the river, a light keeper's boat house was constructed behind the water works pumping station in 1902. This was an 18' x 12' wood-frame building set onto pilings along the breakwater.

The red breakwater light and lighthouse keeper's residence left government service at about the same time the now-familiar flashing red and green entrance lights were placed into service. The upper portion of the wooden lighthouse structure still remains at a local marina.

Port Clinton Lot 1, Square 3, the Lighthouse Lot, and light keeper's residence were sold by the U. S. Government to a Port Clinton physician on May 25, 1927.

The tradition of the Port Clinton Lighthouse lives on, now as a landmark of fine dining in this north-coast Vacationland community.

The Garden at the Lighthouse Restaurant has taken every effort to keep the spirit of years past alive by prividing a shining welcome to any and all, whether they arrive by sea or by land.